Sales Goals

Last week, I got this question from a webinar attendee while tying up my ROI from CRM webinar series with MDM: Are back-end or front-end KPIs more important? During my presentations, webinars and consulting jobs, I focus a lot on the front end of the sales cycle.

When consulting with distributors implementing CRM technology, I’m often involved in the training of the sales team. I like to start each sales team training session with this question: “Why do you think your company is moving forward with CRM?”

Managing CRM according to the status quo will only yield status-quo results. I’ll be presenting three focus areas you can focus on for long-term success with CRM in my upcoming Feb. 7 webcast with MDM.com. It’s free: Register today.

Just as economists track leading indicators – such as the Purchasing Managers Index, durable goods orders and consumer sentiment – industrial companies should also have a leading indicator to better understand which direction their businesses are heading.

Read the first article in this series on developing a competitive advantage: Focus on the 180: Front-End Sales Cycle Management.

What is your competitive advantage? No, really! What is your competitive edge? Sounds like a simple question, and when asked, most distributors, reps and manufacturers answer pretty quickly and predictably. If your goal is to excel in a competitive market, continuous attention to systems, methods, and processes that offer a competitive edge is essential. This series of articles focuses on areas proven to give companies a real competitive edge, yielding measurable results. These methods and processes must be things you and your team can focus on – and control – internally. Excuses related to external factors such as the economy and industry softness need not apply.

The topic in this article is managing your Load Input Goal. Having been in and around industrial sales for the past 30 years, I can count on one hand the companies that did not establish some sort of sales goal at the start of a year. But sales goals are typically backward-looking and expressed as some percentage increase over the previous year. They generally start at the top with a total company sales goal and filter down to territory, product, or service, and then ultimately to the salesperson.